Monday, October 29, 2007
Envy the liars and cheaters
It seems to me that lying and cheating people have more fun. My entire life, I have watched them get more of what they want in just about every context I can think of. I suppose this is logical, given that such people are inherently selfish and driven toward fulfilling their desires. As I conceive the phenomena, they seek to acquire in order to gratify themselves, and this acquisition desire drives them to an "ends justifies the means" approach to life. Sadly, the world never seems short of people willing to give them what they want.
We all lie at some point in our lives. As humans, it seems impossible to be totally honest from birth to death. We all lie, but we are not all liars. A liar manifests a mythology which they surround themselves in. They feed on the naïve and make a game of trust. Fear and insecurity may motivate them, or maybe narcissism and sociopathic impulses guide their decision making. Whatever their motivation, the end result of their lives is trivial meaninglessness. Liars lie on a level that goes far beyond telling your mom dinner was delicious, even as you are barely able to stomach what you've eaten. They lie to extract or obtain what they want from others. A liar that can look you in the eye, lie, and keep their lies in order wields a great deal of power.
Liars make good cheaters, because their commitment to dishonesty provides convenient avenues through which to explore their own potential for cheating. When I talk about cheating, I am not necessarily talking about infidelity, though that is the context which bothers me most. Cheaters seek to have their cake and eat it too, which usually necessitates a string of lies in pursuit of a goal or objective. In effect, the cheater lives a lie, and thereby becomes imbued by the lying, which ultimately begins to make lying and cheating that much easier. All we need to do is look at people like Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, or Barry Bonds to see liars and cheaters enjoying material success. Such people are admired by many, which serves as a striking commentary on our society, in general.
What really alarms me is that there are times when I find myself envious of liars and cheaters. They certainly seem to be free of all the bonds honest and sincere people put upon themselves. Skilled liars and cheaters prosper in most endeavors, often getting away with it for substantial stretches of time, if not forever. For every Enron, there is a company getting away with similar financial sins. For every George W Bush there is a John F Kennedy. Which speaks to a curious duplicity in the human animal. People will line up behind and support one liar over another. One liar becomes a hero to some(Bill Clinton), while those same people condemned another as a lying bastard(Richard Nixon). People live and die according to flexible, subjective moral judgments. They like this liar, so his lying is OK, but they don't like this other liar, so his lying should be condemned. In reality, they should both be condemned for their lack of honor and integrity, but that's all been lost in the wash.
Lately, I find myself feeling envious of a known liar and cheater, and I don't like it. How is it people like this sustain their illusions for so long? Why are there always those who are willing to believe, and even forgive them? The liars and cheaters I have known enjoy more sex, more love, and more money than most of the honest people I have known. That's not to say they are necessarily more satisfied with their lives, but I can't honestly say I am wholly satisfied with every aspect of my life, either. I keep hoping that the long-term result of choosing a different way will be a sincere life full of love, contentment, and ultimately resulting in transcendence, but there are no guarantees. Perhaps this is the root and value of faith, whether that faith is in supernatural forces or ourselves. It is a struggle to watch liars and cheaters reaping the benefits of their endeavors in the present, while hoping that I might someday enjoy the benefits of mine. They do not suffer the trials of waiting and hoping. Given the temporary nature of life, knowing that I may not live long enough to get to where I want to be or experience some of the things I hope to experience, it is difficult not to be a little envious of that immediacy.
Labels: life
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